Systena blanda

Systena blanda

Palestriped Flea Beetle
Binomial:	Systena blanda
Order:	Coleoptera
Metamorphosis:	Complete
Damaging stages:	Grubs on roots, adults on cotyledons and foliage

Palestriped Flea Beetles are a pest of many food crops, and can also cause damage to ornamentals, particularly when the host plants are young.

Description

Adult beetle is yellow through brown or black with a paler stripe on each wing cover, and a red head. Like all Flea Beetles, they jump away when disturbed. Grubs are long and thin.

Symptoms and Signs

Grubs cause root damage, particularly to tubers such as potatoes or sweet potatoes. Adults cause shotholing or skeletonized leaves, particularly of young plants.

Ecology

Overwinters as an adult in debris.

Host plants

• Amaranthus
• Ambrosia
• Arachis (Peanut)
• Avena (Oat)
• Brassica
• Capsicum (Pepper)
• Chenopodium
• Convolvulus
• Cucumis
• Cucurbita
• Citrullus
• Daucus
• Fragaria (Strawberry)
• Gossypium (Cotton)
• Helianthus
• Ipomoea
• Iva (Poverty Weed)
• Lactuca (Lettuce)
• Medicago
• Nicotiana
• Phaseolus
• Pisum
• Pyrus
• Solanum
• Vitis
• Zea

Control

• Cultural controls: Suppress weed hosts, clean growing area in the autumn or winter, disking fields
• Physical removal: Vacuuming
• Barriers: Row Covers
• Pesticides: Carbaryl, Pifenthrin, Permethrin
• Organic pesticides: Rotenone, Spinosad
• Timing: Planting crops later in the season can help avoid seedling damage.

References

• Purdue University
• University of Minnesota
• Colorado State University
• North Carolina State University